What does World-Class Engagement look like?
This was a recent question posted on Twitter So, ‘what does world-class engagement look like? One Birddog Twitterati offered an answer in 140 characters or less ‘Creative genius, amazing results, intertwined in every way’.
Creative genius
Creativity is subjective. What may appear great to one person may not make sense to another. Whilst creative genius is considered to originate from a single moment of inspiration, it is more often the collaborative outcome of strategy, creativity and context. So in a marketing environment, it’s not just up to the creative department to be creative. Planning and delivering a relevant and sticky campaign that is seen, appreciated and even loved by the intended audience isn’t easy. It’s hard. That’s why it’s not seen very often. Delivering a unique, interesting, original and engaging concept that works cross-channel is everyone’s responsibility. At Birddog we call a great team of people working together ‘genius’.
Amazing results
To get amazing results you need to truly connect with your audience. Merely knowing where to find them from the data provided or the list sourced isn’t enough. You have to have an understanding of what they think, what they need, when they need it and where they want it. You need to watch, listen and speak to your target to keep your finger on the pulse. You then need to act upon what you know time and time again for results to be (and continue to be) amazing.
Measuring engagement is the subject of ongoing discussion. ‘Engagement’ represents more than ‘number of responses’ and brand engagement encompasses a wide variety of measurement matrices. There is not just one solution to social media and social media measurement – it’s up to the company to find what works for its business.
Intertwined
World-class engagement needs to be fully integrated between all communication channels – offline, online, above the line, below the line, through the line. It can’t just work in isolation on television, an exhibition stand, in your industry publications or on your website.
World-class engagement requires consistent delivery through all advertising, it needs to be disseminated into social media conversations and networks, your internal and external PR. Internal communications need to be the same as external communications so that there are no conflicting messages. This way the audience is engaged at every brand touch point with exactly the same message.
But intertwined? Intertwined is about the cultural linking of communication within a group. Does the communication fit? The message needs to be fully intertwined between the organisation, the audience, the brand, the product, the experience.
World class engagement has people talking about it. It gets passed on. The story will be retold and retold. And that’s the beauty of a well executed good idea.
How many campaigns have failed to engage their audience and which campaigns do you feel have achieved ‘world-class engagement’? How many examples of ‘World Class Engagement’ can you think of? We’d love to hear your views – please post a comment below.